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Tony Felix, Mike Garner and Orlando Guzman (l-r, names CQ) were among a crew painting Hetch Hetch Water and Power electricity transmission towers along Tesla Road in Livermore, Calif., on Thursday, July 23, 1998. Towers from Tracy to Newark are being painted with a zinc industrial paint that is applied with mitts. Some of the towers have not been painted in 28 years, said Construction Inspector Tim Parkan. The new coat, which takes 45 days to cure, has a 30-year life. The painting project began in May and ends in September. After finishing the Tracy to Newark stretch, the crew will paint towers from Moccasin to Lake Don Pedro. The painters work for Midwest Painting, based in Arkansas. (CONTRA COSTA NEWSPAPERS/CINDI CHRISTIE) VTOWER

OAKLAND — The owner of a Dublin-based electrical company that has earned more than $1 million through various government contracts has been charged with 57 felonies for stealing workers’ pay and lying about it.

Calvin Harris, owner of Harris Electric, is accused of making false claims to three Alameda County government agencies that he was paying his employees a prevailing wage when, according to court documents, he was actually paying them a lower hourly rate.

Meanwhile, the three government agencies — Fremont, Alameda County and the Port of Oakland — paid Harris Electric for work based on sworn statements the company made claiming it was paying its workers the higher rate, court documents state.

By paying his workers a lower rate but telling the agencies that he was paying a prevailing wage, Harris and his company illegally earned about $400,000 in profits, the court documents state.

Harris’ alleged misrepresentations on certified payroll records his company submitted to the government agencies was discovered during the course of a yearlong investigation by the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office.

That investigation looked at various contracts Harris Electric won through a bidding process, including work on a Fremont Police Department indoor gun-firing range, installation of solar panels at the Santa Rita Jail and various projects at the Port of Oakland.

Inspectors for the District Attorney’s Office found that Harris and his company had been allegedly lying to the agencies numerous times between January 2008 and March 2012.

Harris was charged last week with 57 felony counts, including 49 counts for submitting false or forged documents, four counts of grand theft of personal property and four counts of public works wage fraud.

A majority of the charges are based on each time Harris and his company filed a certified report to a government agency claiming it was paying its workers a prevailing wage.

Teresa Drenick, spokeswoman for the District Attorney’s Office, declined to comment.